In this Blog Post
📸 Photos featuring me in this post are edited for lighting, clarity, and more to feel editorial. Pictures are still taken by me! 😊
Why I Decided to Try BySimran Jewelry
I had several new Indian outfits I bought from India, but the outfits didn’t feel complete. It was because I didn’t have the jewelry to go along with these pieces. Traditionally many Indian women wear gold jewelry with Indian attire, but I didn’t feel comfortable spending a lot of money on gold. At the same time, I wasn’t entirely thrilled about buying some jewelry from a bazaar, because I was worried the quality of the materials might irritate my skin. Those were some of the concerns I had about price and quality of jewelry, which is why BySimran was a brand that caught my eye! 🤩
My first impression of BySimran Jewelry was that I found it fascinating, because I’ve never seen any Indian inspired brands go into jewelry in the U.S. I’ve been seeing a lot of makeup and beauty brands, for example Live Tinted, and Kulfi Beauty, which are some of my favorite makeup brands. In addition, we have Fable and Mane, Shaz and Kiks, and Indie Wild for haircare. Basically there’s some familiarity with Indian brands across the beauty industry, but I haven’t seen any Indian jewelry brands come into the U.S. apart from the high-end jewelers like Tanishq and Malabar. Plus one reason for me to shop here was to support small South Asian woman-owned businesses when possible.
What Is BySimran Jewelry?
BySimran is an Indian jewelry brand based out of New York, and their pieces are designed to be comfortable for everyday wear. So is this the best affordable Indian jewelry out there in the U.S? Well, the pricing for the pieces I tried ran between $50 – $90. Now, let’s dive into my BySimran jewelry review to find out more.
My BySimran Ordering and Shipping Experience
I was able to get free shipping since I spent over $100, but I wasn’t planning on spending over $100. I only did this to get the free shipping discount. Now I have noticed many jewelry brands have around the same tier of expectations for jewelry shipping to get free shipping. However, I don’t get why jewelry brands charge a lot for free shipping order eligibility. Jewelry is lightweight and it should be less expensive to ship, from what I know.
For my packaging experience with BySimran, I thought the Barbie pink colored polymailer they sent out was so cute. I’m not sure if they send those pink polymailers for all their orders, because there was no branding on the package itself. I did love that they picked a fun pink color! 😍 The box in which the items were stored in was adorable, and the box had this 3D print on it! I could feel the details as I ran my hand across the box. So, I do plan on keeping this box while I can to store the items. They did however end up only giving me two dust bags, despite having three items inside my order. This moment scared me a bit because I assumed there was a missing item. 😨 However, both of the earring sets were together in one dust bag, which I was not a fan of. While I understand less bags can cut down on waste, I do prefer to have separate dust bags to store each earring set individually.
How long does BySimran take to ship?
Their standard shipping can take 4-7 business days. 📦 For my own shipping experience, my order did come pretty quickly. I ordered it on a Monday, and then it came 3 days later on Thursday. It was actually shipped out from New York and I live in Boston, so that’s why it didn’t take too long to get to me.
What I bought from BySimran
| Jewelry Piece | Retail Price | Kept or Returned | My Rating |
| BySimran Baby Jhumka Earrings | $59.99 | Kept 😊 | 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| BySimran Zara Choker Necklace | $89.99 | Returned 🙁 | 2/5 ⭐️⭐️ |
| BySimran Baby Stone Chandbali Earrings | $59.99 | Kept 😊 | 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
I was able to get 10% off my first purchase when I signed up for their marketing emails, so I paid slightly less than the retail price. However, returning the necklace ended up costing me $9.
BySimran Jhumka Baby Earrings Review
The first piece I knew I wanted to get was the jhumkas. I became familiar with the jhumka style because of the popular Bollywood song “What Jhumka” from the movie Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt. 🎬 I already had jhumkas recently purchased from India, but these were a lot heavier and not as comfortable for casual occasions. That is why I decided to get these jhumkas from BySimran.
These are called the Baby Jhumka Earrings, and they are 18-karat gold-plated. Something that surprised me was the earrings were not heavy, which is something I liked about them. They have a cuff closure which was super easy to open and put the earring into your ear. I know some earrings can be tricky to put in with cuff closures, but this was not like that at all. The sizing of this was a dome diameter of 16mm, length of 34mm and a hoop diameter of 12mm. I was debating between getting the micro jhumkas or the baby ones, and I went for the baby because these are bigger than the micro. They looked quite accurate in comparison to what I saw online, and they’re more of a subtle earring than a statement earring.
These jhumkas are designed to be suitable for everyday wear, which means you can wear them for Indian occasions, or Western clothes if you want to do something more Indo-Western. I personally see myself only wearing these with Indian outfits and I admired these overall. I also felt this would work well with any color outfit because there are no colored stones on these pieces, as it’s entirely gold in color.
How I Would Style the BySimran Baby Jhumka Earrings
You already saw me wearing them with a kurta, but they can also go great with any other Indian clothing such as sarees or lehengas. Since these are small it’s best to pull your hair back allowing these to be visible. You can spot the jhumka on one of my ears in this picture.
BySimran Zara Necklace
The Zara Necklace was a piece I decided to get because I wanted a matching necklace to the earrings I bought. Since this had a choker design as opposed to a single pendant I thought it would be a good match for what I purchased. Unfortunately, when I received the piece I was disappointed. I thought to myself this is not what I had in my mind at all, as it felt more costumey than elevated. The necklace was adjustable so you put it over your neck with the long version, and then you can slide it to adjust. The slider was easy to use, but not the greatest fan of putting it over my head to get it on. Plus, I had a hard time getting the stones to sit straight and flat. I was also constantly confused on which side the stones were supposed to face. Sometimes I would put it over my head and the necklace would get flipped in the process of putting it over my head. I felt annoyed with the process of putting on the necklace!
That was the moment it hit me! I spent over $80 on this necklace, and that’s when I thought to myself absolutely no to keeping this. If anything I would have considered paying $20 for this. But for the price I paid this was not the look I intended. Perhaps I pressured myself into buying this because I wanted to try a set and getting free shipping. Either way I regretted this purchase, but I’m open to trying other style necklaces from the brand. In the end, I would not recommend this unless you are truly in love with the jewelry design you see in my picture above.
BySimran Baby Stone Chandbali Earrings Review
For the chandbali earrings, I was not aware about this style of an earring. I feel that I might have seen these types of earrings in the past, but I don’t ever recall owning a pair. When I went to India I looked for chandbali earrings in different gold jewelry shops, but every person I met just said they don’t sell that style. I found it interesting because they seemed like something that would be popular in a jewelry store, but for some strange reason nobody was selling them. Perhaps these style of earrings are more popular in bazaars.
What I liked about these was the circular shape, which makes them a little big and dramatic. They also have the little stones on them, which made them look nice. They are 18-karat gold-plated, hence they have a grand look on a budget because you’re not paying the same price as solid gold. The chandbali earrings also were sold in a version with pearls instead of stones. I was not a fan of the pearl version, as I generally don’t wear pearls. But if you are into pearls then those are an option. The earrings were easy to take on and off, because it’s a stud backing you would put it on a regular stud earring. In comparison to the jhumkas, I find my personal style aligns with jhumkas more as these chandbali earrings felt more traditional to me. The hook of one of the chandbali earrings was slightly bent, but I was able to easily straighten it out with my finger. They were easy to put on because they are regular studs. You just put the backing on the earrings, and they should be good to go. Since these do sit flat against your ear, it’s best to pull back your hair when wearing these. Bottom line is these are statement jewelry pieces and looked great!
How I Would Style the Baby Stone Chandbali Earrings
Since the stones are shiny I do think these look great with the cream kurta I’m wearing. I recommend pairing them with a cream color outfit similar to mine. I would only wear these with traditional Indian clothing, as these would not look that complementary with Western clothing.
How My BySimran Return Worked
I spent $9 on return shipping for my necklace which I was not thrilled about. I know many small businesses do charge for return shipping, but it would be nice if they had free return shipping. Or if these were sold at a major retailer such as Macy’s or Nordstrom, I could have returned them there for free. Maybe some day their products will be sold at a department store, you never know! 🤷🏻♀️The retail price of the Zara necklace was $89.99 so I felt I should pay the return fee because this was a pricy item. The return label was not given to me automatically, I submitted a return and then I had to wait to get an email from one of their team members. The customer service gave me a USPS Ground Shipping label which I had to use within 7 days. I had 30 days after purchase to submit a return which was another time-constraint with the return process. And they said the refund would be issued 5-10 business days after they received the return. Since it was USPS I was able to put the return in my mailbox for them to pickup. Luckily I did have the polymailer I got my order in to reuse. Overall, I did think the return process could have been smoother if the shipping was free and the return label was provided immediately.
What I Liked and Didn’t Like About BySimran
Here are the pros and cons list I made of why I liked shopping and didn’t like shopping with BySimran. To summarize, I did like BySimran and would consider shopping again. But there are some reasons I may be more considerate before shopping next time.
Liked
- Brand based in NYC which was great for someone who lives in the U.S. I don’t have to worry about import charges, customer service hassles aboard like I would when ordering from India.
- Lightweight jewelry and was very comfortable to wear and put on.
- Well thought out connections to tradition while being modern.
- Pricing is under $100 for pieces I purchased.
- Red dust bags feel luxe.
- The box it came in is easy to store and looks pretty with the 3D print.
- 1 year warranty for the jewelry is offered.
Didn’t Like
- Have to pay for shipping fees unless you spend $100+.
- Have to pay for return fee.
- Return policy is 30 days after purchase which is typical but 90 days would be nice.
- The dust bags should have had one per product, as opposed to all earring pairs in one dust bag.
- Not sold at major retailers like Macy’s or Nordstrom. You can only shop through their site. Since you can’t shop in person, you are entirely dependent on photos and videos shared online.
If you enjoyed reading this then check out my other jewelry reviews. I’m also working on more Indian fashion reviews so check them out!
Frequently Asked Questions
Is BySimran legit?
Yes, this brand is legit. I first came across the brand on social media, and that was how I discovered it. I went through their content online and also saw some influencers wearing their products. Since I was familiar with these influencers it felt trustworthy and BySimran had close to 100K followers on Instagram.
Is BySimran real gold?
No, BySimran is 18K gold plated. Even though there is gold on the outer part, it’s not solid gold. Solid gold is obviously a higher budget and this is what most Indian prefer to buy. On the other hand, I decided 18-karat gold-plated was good because you get high quality without paying the same price as solid gold.
Is this an investment piece? No, because it’s not solid gold. Even though it’s not an investment piece, I do think it will last a while because it has 18-karat gold plating. And it turns out BySimran has a one year warranty with their jewelry.
Is BySimran Jewelry Good Quality?
Overall, I do believe the quality of the jewelry was good, but taking into consideration that it is not solid gold. All of the pieces I tried were under $100 but above $50, which I felt was fair because they are plated gold without being solid gold. The earrings were not super heavy which was great because many people find Indian jewelry heavy. Heavy jewelry can be uncomfortable to wear and in some cases may put too much strain on your ears. These earrings were easy to put on and take off which is what I loved about them. In the end, I think jewelry quality decisions depends on your goals. If you want the jewelry for yourself to wear for a couple of years then you can give this a try. On the other hand if you see jewelry just an investment and want something that will last decades or generations, then you should shop for options with solid gold.
